In uk.railway Tom Anderson wrote:
How much difference does it make? And why? This is something that's always
puzzled me, actually - why are electric trains so much preferred to
diesels? Do they accelerate faster? I assume it's not a question of top
speed.

Firstly they can draw more peak power when accelerating as components can be
worked harder for shorter periods - with a diesel the power you've got is
the power you've got. Secondly you don't have to cart around a big heavy
engine and a tank of fuel all the time, so you can accelerate faster as your
train is (in theory) lighter. You can oversize the engine to get more
accelerating power (see Voyagers) but it'll be bigger and heavier (and more
expensive, and more track-damaging) so you don't win quite as much.

Theo